Goodbye, High School

Goodbye, high school.

Farewell, freshman year,
With all your excitements and pride.
You were the year of finding true friends
And unintentionally making a few enemies.

Everyone pretends to hate freshmen,
But we knew they loved us deep down.
I moved a lot freshman year
And learned a lot too.

Farewell, sophomore year,
You grand irrelevance.
The year I grew through the pain
And the one I thought I was mature in.


Dear sophomore year,
You grand conglomerate of activity,
You taught me empathy
And allowed me to see others as Christ does.

Farewell, junior year,
The one I got senioritis in.
I thought you'd never be over,
Then all of a sudden you were.

I discovered myself in you, junior year.
You are the year of high school everyone actually cares about.
I tested and applied and wrote essays,
And then, finally, it came: senior year.

Farewell, senior year.
It seems just yesterday we waved hello.
I'm surrounded now by little people who call themselves high schoolers.
Could I really have been so young?

My mind is shifting into all the possibilities of my future.
Senior year is the one for the grieving, the giving, the missing,
As the college-ready kids separate themselves
From the forever high schoolers at heart.

~

Farewell, dual credit classes.
In the hallowed halls of community college.
You taught me a few things,
And I taught you a few.

Farewell, worshipping with the youth group.
I approached the stage hesitantly as a ninth grader,
Now I lead others in the charge.
Tears slip down as I sing one last time with my friends in this safe haven.

Farewell, homeschooling,
With your daily readings and question answering.
So long to you, dear desk,
Salty from chemistry-induced tears.

High school is nearly over, nearly done.
The clock chimes, and with the passing of times,
I find it isn't so hard to breathe in, breathe out,
And to grow up.

Goodbye, high school.
You were one glorious song,
And I sang it well.
Goodbye, high school, and hello, world.

~Madeline